Rise of the Bandits
by King Cairo
Summary: Full summary inside. I do not own Naruto or any themes related to Yu Yu Hakusho. Slash-fic. That means yaoi in later chapters.
1. Naruto Senju

Naruto Chronicles: Rise of the Bandits

Chapter 1

Speaking: normal

Thoughts, flashbacks, com-link, and notes: _italicized_

Jutsus, summons, demons: **bold**

Summons's and demon's thoughts, and mind link…: _**bold italicized**_

(): author speaking

…: Time change

~: Scene change

Summary: On the night of the sealing, Minato seals the entire fox into Naruto and Sarutobi reveals his true heritage to the village. When the council demands his death, Sarutobi sees just how far Konoha has fallen from grace. He then gives Tsunade an important assignment: raise Naruto Uzumaki to rise above the village that betrayed him. However, during his life outside of Konoha, Naruto gains a second goal that he intends to make into a reality.

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is a fan-made story made simply for the sake of enjoyment.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed as he looked out to his home. Correction, as he looked out to Konoha. After everything he had faced in the past thirteen years, he was completely disgusted with the civilian populace. Had he known what would occur on that night, he would've kept his mouth shut.

Currently, his thoughts were cut off when a voice said, "You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened, Hiru-kun. You and I both know that Naru-chan doesn't blame you for that night's events."

Hiruzen turned to look at his beloved wife. "At least one person doesn't, Biwako-chan. Still, I never should've said anything. I honestly wouldn't blame him if I hated me."

Biwako cuffed the Sandaime over the head and said, "That's enough of that nonsense, Hiru-kun. What would he say if he could see you looking this pathetic?"

Hiruzen simply chuckled at his wife's question. "He'd call me an idiotic old man and hit me over the head like my beautiful wife does."

Biwako balled a fist in victory and smiled. "You're damned right, he would. Now stop acting all emo and get back to filling out…paperwork."

This only caused a raincloud to appear over the Hokage's head as he turned his gaze on the ever-growing stack of papers.

Biwako was about to try and console him when they heard a voice shout, "Lady, I know good and well that the old man's not meeting with anybody. You've got about three seconds to move before we move you!"

Not even a second later, the office doors were kicked open to reveal two blondes, a girl with black hair, and a small pig in a red vest. The brunette sighed in defeat as she asked, "Naruto, did you really have to kick the door in like that?"

Naruto gave a devious smirk and replied, "May-be. Besides, you know good and well doors royally piss me off. Can you blame me for causing some damage?"

The elder blonde ruffled Naruto's hair in pride and smiled. "That's my boy; needlessly breaking down doors like his mother."

The Sandaime just cleared his throat as he suppressed a loud giggle. "If you're all done being stupid, we can get down to business. Now, I assume you brought him here so that he can be placed on a team. I already have the paperwork completed so that he can join this year's graduating class. Just take that form to Room 103 and give it to Iruka."

Naruto took the slip from him and said, "Thanks, jiji. You and Biwako obaa-chan are the best of the best," before giving the Hokage a polite bow.

He then surprised Hiruzen even further by jumping into the air and vanishing in a swirl of rose petals at the peak of his jump. Sarutobi gave a proud grin and said, "Tsunade-chan, that boy of yours is something else."

Tsunade gave her sensei an amused snort. "Of course he is, Sarutobi-sensei. He is my son, after all."

Later…

Iruka Umino sighed as he managed to get his class to shut the hell up. "Class, I have an announcement to make. We have an addition to our graduating roster, so let's welcome…"

He was cut off when a girl with pink hair said, "How does some random kid get to automatically graduate with us when the rest of us had to attend the academy?"

Iruka just hit her in the forehead with a piece of chalk and said, "He's been in training longer than any of you. He's also been approved by Hokage-sama to graduate. Now class, I'd like to introduce you all to one Naruto Senju."

As if on cue, Naruto appeared next to Iruka in a swirl of rose petals. He was currently wearing a pair of black Anbu-standard pants with a red vine pattern on the right leg, a dark red kimono top that was similar to the one worn by his mother and was held closed by a white obi, a pair of black fingerless gloves with red spirals, and a white long coat with falling rose petals surrounding the Senju Clan's insignia.

It was then that Iruka and a few of the students took notice of the red diamond mark adorning Naruto's forehead.

After a short moment of silence, Iruka turned to Naruto and said, "Naruto-san, why don't you say something to the class?"

Naruto just nodded and gave Iruka a heart-warming smile. "I'd love to, Iruka-sensei."

He then gave the class a respectful bow and said, "My name, as you all know, is Naruto Senju and I will be graduating with your class. I look forward to working with you all. Oh, and for anyone who might be wondering, I am indeed the son of Tsunade Senju."

He then turned back to Iruka and said, "Is there anywhere specific that I should sit?"

Iruka just pointed him to an empty seat next to a boy holding a small dog. "You can sit next to Kiba-san for today."

Naruto just nodded before jumping across the class and flawlessly landing in his seat. While the class started to whisper about him, Kiba's dog jumped onto the blonde's desk and gave him a curious bark.

Naruto simply picked him up and gave him a decent inspection before gently setting him down and rubbing his head. "You're a pretty strong ninken for your age. Your coat and teeth are healthy, your legs are strong, and you seem to be highly energetic. Your owner truly takes good care of you."

The dog wagged his tail in happiness before being picked up by Kiba. "Sorry about that," the brunette started. "He gets a little too excited around new people."

Naruto smiled and waved him off. "You shouldn't be sorry. I'm honestly not surprised in the least. Only a strong and talented individual can raise a magnificent ninken like this."

Kiba fought down a creeping blush and said, "By the way, I'm Kiba Inuzuka and this is Akamaru."

Naruto gave Kiba a foxy grin that made the Inuzuka's return at full force. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kiba-kun. I look forward to working with you in the future."

Iruka quickly diffused their conversation before saying, "I will now call out the roster for this year's teams. Team 1 will be…"

Naruto zeroed his attention between Kiba's smile and Sasuke's curious glances at him for the time being. He inwardly smirked as he realized that the Uchiha was showing interest in him.

He then turned his attention back to Iruka just in time to hear him say, "Team 7 will be Naruto Senju, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno under Kakashi Hatake. Team 8 will be Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyūga under Kurenai Yūhi. Seeing as how Team 9 is still in circulation, Team 10 will be Shikamaru Nara, Chōji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka under Asuma Sarutobi."

Iruka then put down the list and said, "Congratulations to all of you for becoming genin. Go to lunch and report back to the academy in three hours to meet your senseis."

As soon as he was finished talking, Iruka vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto could only sigh in frustration. "They gave me Kakashi of all people as a sensei. Someone on the council must honestly want to die."

Sakura turned to her new teammate in confusion. "Naruto-san, do you have a problem with our new sensei," Sakura asked.

Naruto nodded and replied, "Our new sensei is a chronically late smut reader. In fact, I'm willing to bet that if I go to the Hokage's office for five hours, I'll _still_ get back here before he shows up."

However, before Naruto could try to prove his claim, a man with spiky silver hair burst into the room. He quickly scanned the room before allowing his eyes to fall on Naruto's irritated form. "I knew it," he almost shouted. "The moment I saw Shizune-chan tipped me off that you were back. I dropped everything just to come and see you."

After hearing this, Naruto almost fell over in shock and irritation. "It figures that you'd be early on the one day I want to prove a point. Anyways, don't you need to go see jiji about something?"

Kakashi just nodded and said, "We'll catch up later. Oh, and welcome home, Naruto."

With that out of the way, the masked Jonin vanished in a swirl of leaves. Naruto just smirked and shook his head. "Baka-sensei forgot that Hokage-jiji already briefed him on the teams."

It seemed that Naruto was right because Kakashi reappeared five seconds later in a huff. "Team 7, I want you to meet me on the roof in five minutes."

The Jonin was about to leave when he saw Naruto vanish in a swirl of rose petals. Kakashi then **shunshined** to the roof where he saw Naruto and a pair of clones.

One clone was playing a flute while the second clone was beating a fast and steady tempo on a drum. The real Naruto had removed his coat and sandals and started dancing.

Kakashi couldn't help but to be mesmerized by Naruto's dance. As the Senju heir continued to dance without interruption, rose petals began to manifest themselves into reality and swirled around him.

The dance kept on for about ten more minutes. During that time, Sasuke and Sakura had made it in time to see the end of Naruto's dance.

When the dance was over, Naruto looked around and said, "Has anyone seen my sandals? I seemed to have misplaced them."

Kakashi came back to reality first, only to realize that he had been sitting on the missing sandals. He quickly handed them over and said, "Now that everyone is accounted for, we can all introduce ourselves. My name is Kakashi Hatake. That's all I feel like telling you. Anyways, let's hear from the kunoichi."

Sakura bit back the urge to smack her new sensei. "My name is Sakura Haruno. I enjoy reading and I hate my best friend. My goal is to become an iryō-nin and to prove that I am _**nothing**_ like Saiyuko Haruno."

Kakashi nodded and pointed at Sasuke. The Uchiha grunted before saying, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't have many likes and I hate annoying fangirls and my idiot of an aniki. However, I will admit to having an interest in foxes. My hobbies include training with Itachi and my goal is to become head of the police force."

The Jonin turned his gaze on Naruto and said, "Take us home, Naruto-kun."

Naruto donned his robe and said, "As you all know, my name is Naruto Senju. I enjoy forests, plants, animals, and my kaa-chan and nee-chan. I hate when ero-kyōfu peeps around at hot springs, bigots, rapists, and a certain hebi-teme. My hobbies include training, gardening, dancing, and learning from Kurama and Yōkō. My dream is to become Hokage and to take down the bastard who ruined my life."

Kakashi put down his smut long enough to ask, "Who are Yoko and Kurama? Are they friends of yours?"

Naruto just smirked and whispered into the man's ear. Kakashi's eyes widened as he let out a very perverse giggle. "So, your kyōfu's finally corrupted you. What did your mother have to say about it?"

The blonde whispered into Kakashi's ear again, causing the man to cringe in sympathy for Jiraiya. "I'll bet he's still feeling that one," Kakashi said. "Now then, I'd usually give you all a field test, but my desire to be able to eat solid foods is strongly telling me otherwise. Go home and relax because our first official team meeting is in one week at Training Field 7. By the way Naruto, you need to go and see Hokage-sama."

Having nothing else to say, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke. Seeing their sensei leave prompted Sakura to travel to the library in search of any good medical books.

Naruto was also preparing to depart when Sasuke said, "Naruto-san, you mentioned that you like training. What kind of training schedule do you follow?"

Naruto smirked as he slowly lessened the distance between himself and Sasuke. "My schedule, much like myself, can be very…_**flexible**_. Why do you ask, Sasuke?"

Sasuke nervously swallowed and loosened his collar as his face turned bright red. "I...simply assumed that you would be on a tight schedule seeing as how your mother is one of the Sannin."

Naruto smirked even harder as he realized the true intent of Sasuke's questions. "Sasuke," Naruto cooed, "are you trying to ask me out? If you are, you should really try being more direct."

As Sasuke blushed even harder and tried to sputter out a response, Naruto reached behind his head and pulled a rose from nowhere. He then twisted the rose and watched as the petals flowed and swirled around him. "Come and see me when you can give me an answer, Sasuke. I shall be waiting with Minato-sama."

Before Sasuke could react, Naruto's body transformed into a human shaped tower of rose petals that blew away with the others. The only thing remaining was a single red rose that rested at Sasuke's feet.

With an embarrassed sigh being let out, Sasuke picked up the rose before venturing to his own home. He could already tell that having Naruto on his team would be a wild ride. The only problem was that he didn't know if he'd be able to handle it.


	2. My Name is Konohamaru

Naruto Chronicles: Rise of the Bandits

Chapter 2

Speaking: normal

Thoughts, flashbacks, com-link, and notes: _italicized_

Jutsus, summons, demons: **bold**

Summons's and demon's thoughts, and mind link…: _**bold italicized**_

(): author speaking

…: Time change

~: Scene change

Summary: On the night of the sealing, Minato seals the entire fox into Naruto and Sarutobi reveals his true heritage to the village. When the council demands his death, Sarutobi sees just how far Konoha has fallen from grace. He then gives Tsunade an important assignment: raise Naruto Uzumaki to rise above the village that betrayed him. However, during his life outside of Konoha, Naruto gains a second goal that he intends to make into a reality.

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is a fan-made story made simply for the sake of enjoyment.

As soon as Naruto awoke the next morning, he went down to the kitchen and found Tsunade and Jiraiya arguing over a glass of orange juice.

"I bought the damn juice, Tsunade. It's only fair that I get the last glass," said a thirsty Jiraiya.

Tsunade pulled out a senbon and stabbed it into the table between the Sennin's fingers. "Touch that glass and I'll have you begging to be experimented on by Orochimaru when I'm finished. If you want some orange juice, you had better go buy another carton."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he walked past Shizune, who had been reading a medical book in hopes of ignoring her master. The young blonde wasted no time in grabbing the glass of juice and draining the entire glass.

He then turned to his mother and said, "You two act like a pair of whiny little children fighting over a cookie. I'm honestly not surprised as to why everyone likes to call me and Shizune-nee your elders. Now, I have to go and meet with Sarutobi-jiji and Biwako obaa-chan."

As the genin turned to exit the kitchen, he looked back at the table and said, "If I come home and see you two still acting younger than I am, everyone in this room is going to have trouble sleeping for a month. By the way, I'm taking Tonton out with me."

Shizune instantly looked up from her book to say, "Hold on a minute, Naruto-kun. How in Kami-hime's name am I involved in their stupidity?"

Naruto picked up Tonton and said, "You knew that they were being foolish yet you chose to ignore them for your own reasons and let them squabble about. If I were an enemy shinobi, I could've and most likely would've rigged this house to explode and none of you would've known until the morgue had finished identifying the remains of your charred corpses."

Shizune just nodded tiredly as she realized the validity in her little brother's words. She then watched in slight annoyance as Naruto and Tonton vanished in a swirl of rose petals.

From over at the kitchen table, Jiraiya looked at Tsunade and said, "Hime, you never did tell me the story behind Naruto's shunshin. Why did he choose rose petals?"

Tsunade simply pulled out a deck of cards and a bottle of sake. "Deal the cards out and I'll tell you while we play a few hands. I have all day to recap this little tale and playing card games are better than being bored."

Hokage's office…

As Naruto entered the Hokage's office, he was less than surprised to see both Hiruzen and Biwako sleeping in their chairs. Deciding not to be a cynical jackass, Naruto pulled out his flute and played a soft melody to gently awaken the man who signs his paychecks.

When the couple had finally been roused from their slumber, Naruto stowed his flute and bowed in respect. "Sarutobi-jiji, I was informed that you needed to speak with me about something."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "As a matter of fact, I do have something to discuss with you. You see, I would like to ask you…"

He was cut off by the sound of the office door being thrown open. In the doorway, a small boy with a shuriken and a needlessly long scarf yelled, "It's time to die, old man!"

Sadly, the boy only managed to take a single step before tripping over his own scarf. After finally scrambling to his feet, the boy searched the room for his would be attacker until his eyes landed on Naruto. "What's the big idea tripping me up like that? I almost had the old man until you ruined my master plan!"

Hiruzen took a single look at the blonde while silently praying in his mind, "_Kami-hime, I know I don't ask for much but please don't let Naruto-kun kill my grandson. Please let the boy at least survive what's probably going to be later described as 'a seriously one-sided as hell fight'._"

Naruto hoisted the boy up by his collar and said, "Listen up, you pint-sized little runt. I was on the other side of the room and you tripped over your own damned scarf. I should honestly smack some common sense into that thick skull of yours for being so stupid."

At that exact moment, Ebisu ran into the office and shouted, "Naruto-sama, put the Honorable Grandson down! Someone of your status should not be seen picking fights with children!"

The child gave a cold snarl at his given title. "My name is not 'Honorable Grandson'. My name is Konohamaru Sarutobi!"

He then looked Naruto in the eye and thought, "_This guy's probably like everyone else. After hearing about who I am, he'll set me down and start begging to be forgiven._"

Much to Konohamaru's surprise, Naruto balled his fist and roughly brought it down on the child's head. He then pulled Konohamaru back to his feet and said, "I don't give a damn if Sarutobi-jiji is your grandpa. Hell, I wouldn't give two shits if baa-chan over there was the Sandaime. Hiding behind a name or a title only pisses me off. Speaking of which…"

Naruto quickly flipped over Konohamaru and slammed a rising foot into Ebisu's chin. The man hit the ground in a loud thud which caused Naruto to smirk. "I don't care if I _**am**_ the Shodaime's great-grandson or that I am Tsunade's son. It was made clear that you were to _never_ call me Naruto-sama, Ebisu."

He then refocused his attention on Sarutobi and said, "Now, let's get back to why I was called here in the first place."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "I called you here for a personal favor. Biwako-chan and I were hoping that you would draw our grandson's attention for a while."

Naruto instantly said, "Hell no," before vanishing in a swirl of rose petals.

Ebisu let out a sigh and said, "Come along, Honorable Grandson. We must continue your studies if…"

That was when he noticed that Konohamaru had vanished. Biwako chuckled and said, "It seems as though our grandson has gone searching for Naruto-kun."

Minutes later…

Naruto chuckled to himself as Konohamaru made his best attempts to follow and stay hidden from the blonde. Sadly for Kono, his hiding techniques were severely lacking and Naruto wasn't an idiot.

After another hour had gone by, Naruto finally ended things by saying, "Your stealth skills are terrible, runt. Now come out here and tell me why you're following me."

Kono dropped his poorly placed camouflage sheet and said, "You're not like everyone else. They all see me as the 'Honorable Grandson' and not who I really am."

Naruto just let out a tired sigh as he picked up Tonton. "Listen runt, I'm in a good mood today. Tell me what your goals in life are and I'll see if I can give you a few tips to put you in the right direction."

Konohamaru smirked as he proudly shouted, "I wanna be the next Hokage so that people will see the real me and not my grandpa!"

Naruto shook his head in amusement as he led Kono to an open field. He then sat down on a large rock and said, "That's good and all, but being the Hokage is about more than simply getting people to stop calling you by some title. You have to make them see you first so that people will know you by more than just Hokage-sama."

Naruto then held up three fingers so that Konohamaru could see them. "Now, my first piece of advice is that you need to master your basics. They are the foundation of what will eventually build you up to become a Hokage."

Konohamaru scoffed and said, "That's not what Ebisu-sensei tells me. He says that he can show me all of the shortcuts to becoming…"

"…a power-hungry criminal or something even worse," Naruto cut in. "Ebisu is a fool for telling you something like that and you are just as much of a fool for believing him. The last Konoha-nin who sought a shortcut to power betrayed the village."

As Naruto let one of his fingers drop, he pulled out an onigri and tossed it to Kono. The boy ate in silence as Naruto said, "My second piece of advice is this. You need to find a reason for becoming the Hokage that's not just having people see you as you. If you were to become the Hokage without allowing people to see you shine without some fancy title, they will only come to know you as Hokage-sama and not Konohamaru."

As Konohamaru gave Naruto his undivided attention, he never noticed that Ebisu had been listening from the tree line. "So, Naruto-sama was able to keep the boy's attention on him. It seems as though Hokage-sama was right to leave Konohamaru in his care."

He then locked eyes with Naruto and gave him an approving nod before leaving the area with a satisfied grin. There was simply no reason to interfere with a good thing.

Meanwhile Naruto looked to the setting sun and jumped down from his rock. "It's getting late out here and I don't think that Sarutobi-jiji would appreciate me keeping you out so late into the night."

As the duo walked back to the Hokage's tower, Naruto could feel an Anbu following them. After arriving at the large building, he felt the Anbu's chakra vanish. Something in the back of his mind told him that he would be dealing with this particular Anbu soon enough.

Once the two boys made it to the doors to the tower, Konohamaru quickly said, "Hey, you never gave me that third tip."

Naruto just smiled under the building lights as he handed the small boy a rose. "I'm glad to see that you were paying attention. My third piece of advice to you is the most vital part of what I have to say."

Kono could only listen on in silence as the blond continued, "If you desire the mantle of the Hokage so much, you must prove to me that you are worthy of the title. As the future Godaime Hokage, that is my advice to you."

The brunette's eyes widened as Naruto pulled out a second rose. As the petals fell from the stem, Naruto quickly said, "I was raised for the sole purpose of becoming the Hokage when Sarutobi-jiji retires again. If you want that hat, you must prove to me that you are worthy of being my successor."

Konohamaru stared at him before holding out a fist. "I'll do it. I'll work hard and prove to you that I can become the Hokage."

Suddenly, the fallen rose petals began to rise from the ground and spiral around Naruto. As the blonde's body dissolved into rose petals, he gave Kono an approving smile. "I'm going to hold you to that, so you had better make me proud. Good luck, Konohamaru Sarutobi. You will need it."

Kono could only smile as Naruto vanished. Not only had Naruto acknowledged his dream of becoming Hokage, the blonde had also given Kono the one thing he wanted above all else. He had acknowledged the brunette as himself and not by some title.

Kono turned to enter the building and said, "Thank you, Naruto. Thank you."


	3. C-Ranked: Journey to Nami no Kuni

Naruto Chronicles: Rise of the Bandits

Chapter 3

Speaking: normal

Thoughts, flashbacks, com-link, and notes: _italicized_

Jutsus, summons, demons: **bold**

Summons's and demon's thoughts, and mind link…: _**bold italicized**_

(): author speaking

…: Time change

~: Scene change

Summary: On the night of the sealing, Minato seals the entire fox into Naruto and Sarutobi reveals his true heritage to the village. When the council demands his death, Sarutobi sees just how far Konoha has fallen from grace.

He then gives Tsunade an important assignment: raise Naruto Uzumaki to rise above the village that betrayed him. However, during his life outside of Konoha, Naruto gains a second goal that he intends to make into a reality.

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is a fan-made story made simply for the sake of enjoyment.

It had been three weeks since Naruto had confronted Konohamaru about his dreams. During those three weeks, Team 7 discovered the bane of all shinobi aside from paperwork. They discovered the dreaded D-Ranked missions.

The one mission that the team discovered was the worst of the worst was the 'Catch Tora' mission. In fact, the team was currently in pursuit of said feline…for the ninth time that morning.

After another three hours of cat chasing, Naruto cornered Tora between some trees and put her to sleep with a special sleeping powder. He then scooped her up and said, "I am getting so tired of this crap. Let's get Tora back to the office before I do something she'll regret."

Hokage's office…

As soon as Team 7 entered the mission room, Tora was instantly snatched up by her owner. Madame Shinji turned to Naruto and said, "Thank you for saving my precious Tora again, Naru-kun. Tell your mother I said hello."

Naruto smiled and nodded as the daimyo's wife exited the office. As soon as she was out of sight, Sasuke was the first to say, "How are you so familiar with the daimyo's wife?"

Naruto smiled as he gently curled a spiky lock of hair around his fingers. "Okaa-chan and I liked to travel around a lot. We had been invited to Lord Shinji's birthday party when Madame Shinji accidently gave herself a case of food poisoning. It was the first time I had both fully diagnosed _**and**_ cured the same patient."

He then turned to Sarutobi and said, "My many high-end connections aside, we want a better mission."

Iruka, was assisting in the mission assignments, started a spiel about the mission assignment system. When he finished, he quickly noticed that Sakura was organizing a medical kit, Kakashi's nose was buried in his smut, Hiruzen and Biwako were playing cards, and Naruto was whispering something into Sasuke's ear that made the Uchiha blush.

Iruka cleared his throat and said, "I can't believe you all ignored me like that. Did you all overdose on stupid this morning?"

Hiruzen set his hand down and said, "Kakashi-san, do you believe that your team is ready of a higher ranked mission?"

Kakashi closed his book long enough to say, "I'm sure that a C-ranked mission won't be a problem. It would serve to let them see beyond the village's gates as well as give them some field experience."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "It just so happens that I have a C-ranked mission ready to go. Iruka, please bring in the client."

The scarred Chūnin briskly exited the room before returning with a middle-aged man wearing a straw hat. The man took one look at Team 7 and said, "This is the team that's supposed to protect me!? I bet these runts couldn't…hold on a second."

The client's eyes landed on Naruto before lighting up in mirth. "Naruto, is that you!?"

Naruto eyes bugged out of his head as he got a better look at the client. "Tazuna, why are you here in Konoha? Is this about the Tanzaku incident? I swear that I paid that one off already."

Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled. "It seem as though you are also familiar with our client."

Naruto and Tazuna both gave face-splitting grins before saying, "We're poker buddies."

Sakura gave Naruto an incredulous look. "You play poker? You don't look like the type to gamble."

Naruto pulled a deck of cards from his pocket and said, "When your okaa-chan is Tsunade Senju, you tend to pick up her penchant for gambling. I could teach you a few things if you want."

Naruto then gave Sakura the cards before turning back to Tazuna. "Don't worry about a thing, oldie. We've got you covered."

Tazuna nodded before pulling out a bottle of sake. "That actually makes me feel easier about this. We're leaving in about four hours because I need some time to grab some stuff for the trip home."

Kakashi dismissed the team so that they could gather anything they needed to prepare for the mission.

With Sakura…

As soon as the kunoichi entered her home, she saw a woman with dark pink hair reading from a scroll. "Saki oba-chan, have you seen my special medical kit?"

Saki Haruno, Sakura's aunt and maternal figure, pointed to the counter where a medical kit was resting. "This must be an important mission if you're using that kit. How long will you be gone?"

Sakura grabbed the kit and sat down next to her aunt. "It's an extended C-Ranked mission and we're looking at a few weeks to almost a month."

Saki placed her scroll on the table and smiled at her niece. "I know you'll do well out there, Sakura-chan. Jaden-nii would be so proud if he could see you right now."

Uchiha residence…

Sasuke crept through the compound and into his room to gather what he thought would be essential for the mission. He had almost made it to the gates when a painfully familiar voice said, "Why all the sneaking around, otouto? After all, this _**is**_ your home."

Sasuke sighed as Itachi rounded a corner. "I'm in a bit of a rush," said the younger Uchiha. "I'll cater to your annoying personality when I get home."

Itachi poked him in the forehead before smiling. "Foolish little brother, you really should consider getting laid."

Sasuke turned his head to try and hide the fact that he was blushing. "Go back to your pocky and leave me in peace. Better yet, why don't you follow your own advice?"

Itachi turned to walk away with a smirk on his face. "I already am. Have fun trying to lose your virginity."

Sasuke stifled a scream as he left to meet with his team. He'd deal with his brother's idiocy on a later day.

Senju residence…

Naruto casually strolled into the Senju compound and stopped as a fist came within an inch of his nose. Tsunade quickly lowered her hand before saying, "Oh, it's you Naru-chan. I was hoping to catch that old toad you call a godfather."

Naruto gave a void smile while saying, "Here's a funny little science lesson. Did you know that some toads prefer to live in _**large trees**_? I'm honestly _**left**_ without a clue as to why."

Picking up on her son's hint, Tsunade punched the oak tree to her left. She then gave a satisfied smirk as Jiraiya came crashing to earth with a girlish scream.

Jiraiya simply dusted himself off before saying, "What did I tell you about being a snitch? Just for that, you don't get a birthday this year."

Two seconds later, he found himself on the ground again with a fist-sized bruise on his head. Tsunade smirked in satisfaction before saying, "I didn't realize that Kakashi had dismissed you all so early today. Is something going on?"

Naruto shook his head before vanishing in a swirl of rose petals. When he returned, Tsunade noticed that he had a playful smirk on his face. "We're going on a C-Ranked mission with Tazuna of all people and won't be back for about a month."

Tsunade gently kissed her son on the forehead before saying, "I know you'll do just fine, Naru-chan. Now go out there and kick some ass for me."

Naruto nodded as he turned to exit the compound. "Have fun beating up ero-kyōfu and I'll see you in a month."

As the blonde vanished in a swirl of rose petals, Tsunade refocused her attention on Jiraiya with a demented smirk plastered on her face. Jiraiya quickly looked around before pointing to his right and shouting, "Someone left a bottle of sake out!"

Tsunade turned her head in hopes of finding the alleged sake, but was sad when she saw nothing. She then turned back to Jiraiya, only to find the old pervert running faster than the Yondaime on a sugar rush.

Village Gates…

As Team 7 and Tazuna met up at the gates, Kakashi noticed that Naruto seemed to be waiting on something. "Is something the matter, Naruto? You looked concerned about something."

Naruto simply shook his head and held up three fingers. When the first finger dropped, a red and white blur shot past them with a green and blonde blur following close behind.

On the second finger's descent, the sounds of an overpowered punch and a scream filled the air. When Naruto's third finger came down, Jiraiya crash-landed into the ground just left of Sakura.

The blonde smiled at his godfather's discomfort and said, "I just didn't want to run the risk of being bowled over by his reentry. Let's get out of here before something else happens."

Three hours later…

As Team 7 and Tazuna made some leeway into their trek, Kakashi and Naruto noticed a puddle on the side of the road. Kakashi looked at Naruto from the corner of his eye and winked, showing the blonde that he had seen it as well.

Just as the group came parallel to the puddle, Naruto used a chakra-powered stomp to disrupt the terrible attempt at a camouflage jutsu. The puddle vanished to reveal a pair of brunette twins wearing a pair of gauntlets that were connected by a chain.

Kakashi was about to tie them up when Naruto held out a hand to stop him. "What are the two of you doing out here?"

The male on the left lifted his head to reveal that he was barely older than Naruto. "We were ordered to come here and try to take out the bridge builder. There was no way of knowing you would be here, Naruto-sama."

The one on the right nodded before saying, "Gato hired us to make sure that Tazuna-san wouldn't finish the bridge. We were only doing as we were told."

Naruto crouched down to face the boy on the left. "Kazu, I want you and Raikō to tell your boss that I want to speak to him. And I don't mean Gato."

The twins bowed before vanishing in a swirl of mist. Naruto just sighed before turning to Tazuna. "You should've told me that Gato was after you, Tazuna. I would've taken this job for free if I had known he would be the cause of this."

Kakashi gently placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled. "That's kind of you, but it would be counterproductive for Konoha. Still, I'm curious as to your reasons for being willing to deal with Gato free of charge."

Naruto sat down in a grassy area before saying, "Gato advertises himself to be a merchant and shipping tycoon. However, he's really a lowlife bastard who sells drugs, enslaves women, and does a few other things I won't mention. For a while now, he has been on my list."

The Jonin nodded before pulling out his infamous book. "Well, it looks like Naruto-kun wants to keep going. Team, what's the verdict?"

Sasuke grunted before saying, "If my okaa-chan found out I let a country get bled dry when I had the chance to do something, she'd kill me."

Sakura nodded while patting her medical kit. "If I were anything like that bitch Saiyuko, I'd say that it wasn't my problem. However, I actually have a heart unlike her."

Naruto smiled at the girl's reasoning. "From what I just heard, you and this Saiyuko person have no similar qualities. So sensei, we've made our choice."

Kakashi nodded before closing his book. "Let's get back into formation and move back out. Tazuna-san, we're taking you home."

A few hours later…

The group had met up with one of Tazuna's friends and used his boat to cross the water and reach the island that Tazuna lived on. When they arrived on land, they walked for another hour before noticing that a heavy fog had rolled in.

Naruto instantly channeled chakra into his ears and focused on the world around him. When he heard a sound to his left that was too heavy to be an animal, he tossed a kunai into the brush and said, "Be on your guard. We are no longer alone."

However, when he went into the brush to retrieve his kunai, he returned with a white rabbit. He quickly held the rabbit up and said, "I told you we weren't alone, sensei. This rabbit only confirms that."

Sakura was genuinely confused. "Naruto-san, how can you know that just from seeing a white…rabbit? Wait, is that a snowshoe hare?"

"Exactly," Naruto said. "A rabbit like this should be brown during the spring unless it's raised in a cold area. Second, take a look at the red collar on its neck. I know we're not alone because I know who owns this particular rabbit."

Suddenly, Kakashi shouted, "Get down!"

Everyone managed to duck as a large blade flew over their heads and wedged itself in a tree. From within the fog, a deep voice said, "It looks like someone has a few skills. However, that won't be enough for some greenhorn genin to try and deal with me."

Naruto rolled his eyes while petting the rabbit. "Save the crap and come out here, Zabuza."

When some of the mist cleared, everyone could see a male standing on the hilt of the large blade. The male turned his attention to the group and pointed at Naruto. "Now I see what the twins were telling me about their master returning. It's been a while since we've done battle. Hasn't it young Naruto Senju?"


End file.
